2nd Grade Reading Log 2015-16

This is my youngest daughter's reading log for this year. Books marked * are required for school. I will add books as she reads them.

1. Tornado (Betsy Byars)*
2. In the Garden (Sarah McKenzie)*
3. The Adventures of Laura and Jack (Laura Ingalls Wilder)*
4. The Story of Ferdinand (Munro Leaf)
5. The White Stallion (Elizabeth Shub)
6. Molly's Pilgrim (Barbara Cohen)
7. The Magician's Nephew (C.S. Lewis)
8. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis)
9. Susan's Journey: Step Through the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis Pte, Ltd)
10. Dick Whittington and His Cat (Eva Moore)
11. Meet Samantha: An America Girl, Book One (Susan S. Adler)

Summer Reading:

12. The Boxcar Children (Gertrude Chandler Warner)

6th Grade Reading Log 2015-16

This is my daughter's reading log for 6th grade. I will add books as she reads them. Books marked * are required for school.

1. History Spies: The Great Exhibition Mission (Jo Foster)*
2. Caddie Woodlawn's Family (Carol Ryrie Brink)*
3. Rifles for Watie (Harold Keith)*
4. The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)*
5. Shades of Gray (Carolyn Reeder)* (NOTE: This is a historical fiction story for children)
6. Adam of the Road (Elizabeth Janet Gray)*
7. Round the Clock Stories (Enid Blyton)
8. Grandmother Oma (Ilse Kleberger)
9. Tom's Midnight Garden (Philippa Pearce)*
10. Waiting for Mama (Marietta D. Moskin)*
11. The Secret of the Old Clock (Carolyn Keene)*
12. American Tall Tales (Adrien Stoutenburg)*
13. The Golden Key and Other Stories (George MacDonald)*
14. Esperanza Rising (Pam Muñoz Ryan)*
15. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (Judith Kerr)*
16. The Victory Garden (Lee Kochenderfer)*
17. The Last Battle (C.S. Lewis)

9th Grade Reading Log

This is my son's reading log for 9th grade. I will add books as he reads them. Books marked * are required reading for school.

1. The Ultimate Survival Guide: Surviving Any Situation (J & P LLC RSR)
2. Public Enemy Number Two (Anthony Horowitz)
3. Mission Survival: Gold of the Gods (Bear Grylls)
4. But Don't All Religions Lead to God? (Michael Green)*
5. Herodotus and the Road to History (Jeanne Bendick)*
6. Shane (Jack Schaefer)*
7. Word to Caesar (Geoffrey Trease)*
8. Mimosa: A True Story (Amy Carmichael)*
9. A Silk Road Pilgrimage: Discovering the Church of the East (Richard Showalter)*
10. Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson)*
11. Ragged Dick (Horatio Alger, Jr.)*
12. Stormbreaker (Anthony Horowitz)
13. The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
14. Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (Suzanne Collins)
15. Mission Survival: Way of the Wolf (Bear Grylls)
16. Mission Survival: Sands of the Scorpion (Bear Grylls)
17. Mission Survival: Tracks of the Tiger (Bear Grylls)
18. Mission Survival: Claws of the Crocodile (Bear Grylls)
19. Mission Survival: Strike of the Shark (Bear Grylls)
20. Mission Survival: Rage of the Rhino (Bear Grylls)
21. Mission Survival: Lair of the Leopard (Bear Grylls)
22. The Christmas Star (Ace Collins)
23. Where Am I? The Story of Maps and Navigation (A.G. Smith)*
24. Men of Iron (Howard Pyle)*
25. Sundar Singh (Janet and Geoff Benge)*
26. The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis)*
27. The King's Fifth (Scott O'Dell)*
28. In the Days of Drake (J.S. Fletcher)*
29. Skeleton Key (Anthony Horowitz)
30. Eagle Strike (Anthony Horowitz)
31. Queen of the Dark Chamber (Christiana Tsai)*
32. Wilfred Grenfell: Fisher of Men (Janet and Geoff Benge)*
33. Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins)
34. The Great Escape (Paul Brickhill)
35. Mockingjay (Suzanne Collins)
36. Queen Sheba's Ring (H. Rider Haggard)*
37. I Dared to Call Him Father (Bilquis Sheikh and Richard H. Schneider)*
38. Captains Courageous (Rudyard Kipling)*
39. Divergent (Veronica Roth)

Summer Reading:
40.

9th Grade Curriculum 2015-16

My son is in high school!  Instead of picking and choosing my own curriculum (subject by subject) this year, I decided to order an all-in-one curriculum program.  I used Heart of Dakota for kindergarten and grade 1.  Although I loved their program, I began choosing my own materials after 1st grade.  For 9th grade, I’m returning to Heart of Dakota, partly to make things easier on myself since we’re beginning something new (high school) and partly because I really like what the program includes.

The manual we’re using for 9th grade is called Hearts for Him Though High School: World Geography.  If you follow the link, you can see exactly what it includes.  There are so many books that I am not going to list them all!  Here’s an overview of the program:

1.  Social Studies/Bible:  World Geography (1 credit), World Religions and Cultures (1/2 credit), and Bible (1 credit).  This includes an optional “Living Library” of books they can read alongside the other books, but I will only use some of those (can’t afford everything).  Follow the link to see the exact titles.  The world geography includes 3 books to read, 1 DVD set, a mapping with art book, a student journal, and a Book of Centuries notebook page set with a CD of timeline figures.  The world religions and cultures course includes 10 books to read and a set of notebook pages.  The Bible course includes two books (Rooted and Grounded workbook and Practical Happiness).  Of the optional living library books, I have 10 of them (I think), so we’ll read those to supplement the topics he’s studying.

2.  Logic:  Includes The Fallacy Detective (which we tried in an earlier grade, but it went over his head) and The Art of Argument.  This will not be done every day, and the it is a 1/2-credit course.

3.  Spanish:  Getting Started with Spanish (1/2 credit)

4.  English:  A combination of literature, composition, and grammar (1 credit).  Program uses BJU Fundamentals of Literature, Essentials in Writing (DVD lessons and student book), and Rod and Staff English.  There is also a set of 7 books he’ll be reading.  Follow the link and scroll down to see the titles.

5.  Science:  Physical Science (1 credit).  We’re using Integrated Physics and Chemistry (Tiner) and the MicroPhySci Kit.  I had decided about a year ago or longer to use Heart of Dakota for Isaac, and I’m glad to say that my science teacher dad approved of the science component after he looked it over.  I’ll be on my own for science after this and can only hope to choose programs he would have approved of (because I really valued his opinion when it came to science).

5.  Math:  Algebra (1 credit) using No-Nonsense Algebra.  This was the cheapest program offered (out of 3 choices) and also what HOD describes as working well with students who have struggled in math.  It has easy-to-understand, short and concise lessons, and you also get free online access to video instruction if needed.  It’s not an advanced algebra course, but it is supposed to be adequate, so I’m hoping this program will be a great fit for my son.

6.  Extracurricular:  I’ll probably do a few other things not included in Heart of Dakota.  This will include P.E., programming (Hour of Code) and typing (both continued from 8th grade), and possibly some art or music.  This Heart of Dakota program is designed for a 4-day week, so Fridays can be used for extracurricular activities and student interests.

Click on links to view my 2015-16 curriculum choices for 2nd and 6th grades.

This post is linked to iHomeschool Network's 7th Annual "Not" Back to School Blog Hop.

6th Grade Curriculum 2015-16

My middle child is in 6th grade.  How did that happen so quickly?  It seems like yesterday that I was posting this list for my oldest.  Anyway, here’s what my daughter will be using this coming school year.

1.  Math:  Teaching Textbooks 6—This program has been very successful for my family, and I highly recommend it.  In the past, I’ve read a lot of negative feedback on the program, which I completely disagreed with.  If you’re afraid to use TT because of what you’ve read (about it being too easy), I would recommend reading this post from Timberdoodle:  Is Teaching Textbooks Math Too Easy?  The only downside is the cost, but for us, it’s been totally worth it.

2.  Reading:  Drawn Into the Heart of Reading—We’ve used this program from Heart of Dakota since my oldest was in 4th grade.  This year, my daughter will be reading the following books for the program (not all choices are final at this point): 

Biography:  Jane Austen: The Girl With the Magic Pen! (Gill Hornby)

Adventure:  The Hobbit (J.R.R Tolkien) OR The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Joan Aiken)

Historical Fiction:  Adam of the Road (Elizabeth Janet Gray)

Fantasy:  Tom’s Midnight Garden (Phillipa Pearce)

Mystery:  Secret of the Old Clock (Carolyn Keene) OR Mandie and the Fiery Rescue (Lois Gladys Leppard)

Folk Tales:  American Tall Tales (Adrien Stoutenburg) AND The Golden Key and Other Stories (George MacDonald)

Nonfiction:  The Great Fire (Jim Murphy)

Humor:  Ginger Pye (Eleanor Estes) OR The Moffats (Eleanor Estes)

Realistic Fiction:  Treasures of the Snow (Patricia M. St. John)

3.  History:  Story of the World, Volume 4: The Modern Age—We supplement with the accompanying activity book and plenty of good literature and videos.

4.  Language:  Easy Grammar:  Grade 6—This will be the second time I’ve used this program, and I find it to be a very effective method for learning grammar.  Along with Easy Grammar, we do Daily Grams: Grade 6 for extra practice. 

5.  Spelling:  All About Spelling, Level 6

6.  Science:  Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Botany and Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics—The chemistry and physics book will be new for us because they hadn’t yet released that title when my oldest was in 6th grade.  We always do two Apologia titles a year between grades 4-6 by doing science daily.  Otherwise, we would never get through them all.

7.  Read-Aloud Time:  I’m hoping to read aloud to my daughter from some classics this year.  We’ll just read as we’re able, so I won’t have a schedule.  Here’s a list of possibilities:  Little Women (Louisa May Alcott), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (Kate Douglas Wiggin), The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett), The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum), Heidi (Johanna Spyri), Black Beauty (Anna Sewell), and The Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens).

8.  Electives: 

Music—Singing Made Easy, piano, and recorder and Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool Modern Music

Art—Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool Modern Art

Thinking Skills—Critical and Creative Thinking Activities

P.E.—Family Time Fitness

Typing—Typing Instructor for Kids Platinum

Click on links to view my 2015-16 curriculum choices for 2nd and 9th grades.

This post is linked to iHomeschool Network's 7th Annual "Not" Back to School Blog Hop.

2nd Grade Curriculum 2015-16

My youngest is almost a 2nd grader!  This will be my third time with this curriculum.  I don’t think there are too many changes.  Do keep in mind, in case you think I have an awfully large number of subjects here, that many of these will be rotated so that not every subject will be taught all in one day (heaven forbid!).

1.  Math:  Singapore Math—Primary Mathematics 2A and 2B (U.S. Edition).  I’ve used Singapore Math for K-3 with all of my kids, and they have done very well with it. 

2.  Reading:  Reading to Learn series—Happy Hearts and Helping Hands (2 readers).  I’ve used this series for grades 1-3 with each child, and we really have enjoyed it.  These readers are advanced, but my youngest read through the first grade reader so quickly that she’s been reading other books the last half of the school year.  She’s already reading chapter books in fact!  I still plan to use these readers for 2nd grade, but if she gets through them quickly, then I’ll come up with a list of chapter books for her to read.

3.  Spelling:  All About Spelling—Levels 2 and 3.  This is our favorite spelling program.  She’s already finished part of Level 2 in 1st grade, so she will probably get to Level 3 during 2nd grade.

4.  Handwriting:  Pictures in Cursive Primer—I used this with my daughter’s older sister, and we enjoyed it.  The painting reproductions are very nice.

5.  Language:  Language Lessons for the Elementary Child, Volume 1—This is where I’m changing things up from what I did with the older two.  With them, I didn’t use this book until they were in 3rd grade; however, I think my youngest will be able handle it easily.  We’ll try it, anyway.  She literally whizzed through all of her 1st grade work each day, so I think she’s ready.

6.  Writing:  Journal--There are writing exercises in the language book; however, since she already loves to write, I will probably have her keep a journal.

7.  Poetry: Poems for Memorization—She is very good at memorizing, so we’ll try working on some of these poems.  I intended to use it with my older two, but somehow we never got to it that often.

8.  Science:  Our Father’s World—We used the second grade book along with her Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory program (Heart of Dakota), so I’m using the first grade book this year.  We’ll probably supplement it with experiments and nature study.

9.  History:  The Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times—All of my kids have used this program, and we really like it.  Because the book has only a few Bible stories, I do add a lot to the program.  We use the accompanying activity book and supplement with plenty of books.  To top it all off, we will take her to the British Museum in London, something I’ve done with my older two when they studied ancient history.

10.  Geography:  With my older two kids, we did three years of geography units on different countries, plus one year on states.  Now, my older two are finished with our geography units, and my youngest gets to start them for the first time!  I love geography, so this is a favorite to teach.  My units are on my blog (right side bar), but they may vary a little depending on what resources we have available.  My youngest will begin with the following countries:  Iraq, Egypt, Ghana, Israel, Greece, Italy, China, India, and Turkey.

11.  Bible:  Grapevine Studies—Stick-Figuring Through the Bible: New Testament Overview, Beginner Level and Seeds Family Worship (Bible verse memorization).  Our family has enjoyed these!

12.  Story Time:  I’ll be reading aloud to her from nine books as follows:

Biography:  Squanto: Friend of the Pilgrims (Clyde Robert Bulla)

Adventure:  (Still working on this one)

Historical Fiction:  Little House on the Prairie (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

Fantasy:  Rabbit Hill (Robert Lawson)

Mystery:  Ghost Town Treasure (Clyde Robert Bulla)

Nonfiction:  If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon (E. Levine)

Humor:  A Bear Called Paddington (Michael Bond)

Realistic Fiction:  Misty of Chincoteague (Marguerite Henry)

Folktales:  Dick Whittington and His Cat (retold by Eva Moore)

13.  Seatwork:  Spectrum Test Practice, Grade 2—Just for skill practice.

14.  Thinking Skills:  MindWare Brainteaser books—Analogies, Venn Perplexors, and Logic Links.  Also we will use a variety of thinking skill games.

15.  Music:  Singing Made Easy, piano, other.

16.  P.E.: Family Time Fitness

17.  Art:  Joseph the Canada Goose and Draw-Write-Now books

Click on links to view my 2015-16 curriculum for 6th and 9th grades.

This post is linked to iHomeschool Network's 7th Annual "Not" Back to School Blog Hop.

P.S.  As I hadn’t published a blog post in several months, I experienced technical difficulties when I tried to publish this post via my Windows Live Writer.  If you experience this issue, this post was most helpful:  LEHSYS Side Notes

Random Thoughts on Blogging and Life and Death

Hi, it's me again, after a really long time. I didn't blog much last year, and I haven't done much this year other than keep the kids' reading logs going. At first I wasn't sure why I lost interest in blogging, but maybe I just needed a break. Up until a few years ago, most of my posts revolved around my then-tot. I wrote a lot of posts about Tot School and sensory tubs. Those days are past, as my youngest is currently halfway through first grade. I also enjoyed writing posts about my geography units, but writing them and putting in all the links was so time-consuming. I would really like to get back to my blogging. I have some geography units to post, but maybe I don't have to make them so detailed and long. I also love children's literature, so maybe I can write more about the books we're reading. I also have chosen (and am about to purchase) my son's 9th grade curriculum, so I'll probably post about that next.

Last September, we made a trip home to the USA. Our plans were to stay nearly 4 months, through the holidays. During that time, my dad was having some stomach issues. That was nothing new, as he's had various stomach ailments most of his life. Just before Christmas, however, he worsened. We finally got him to agree to see a doctor, which happened the day we landed back in England. Within a few days, we found out that he had aggressive cancer, and it had gone into his liver. My parents (and us) are firm believers in healing, so when we understood that treatments would not help him, we decided to go back to the US and help my parents fight through prayer. We stayed in England 2 1/2 weeks before going home to the US. Three weeks later, my dad went to be with Jesus. This has been the hardest thing I've ever been through, and I miss him so much. The loss and the hurt feel like they'll never go, but I want to say this. My dad lived 71 years, mostly in good health until the very end, and he lived for the Lord. He didn't really have any pain with his illness, and we are grateful for that. We know we will see him again someday, though the wait seems hard. This life is so short in comparison to eternity, and that gives me comfort. We don't understand why my dad had to go. After all, we prayed, quoted Scripture, worshiped and thanked God for His goodness... We fought the cancer with faith, yet he was not healed on this earth. We ask why, and we may never know, but I do know this: God is still good. He's still faithful, and He loves us. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, and He knows what we're going through. We were never promised an easy life, but He promised to be with us. We still believe in healing. We know people who have been healed physically here on earth. We still have much to be thankful for. My grandpa, my dad's dad, died of cancer when he was 61. I'm thankful my dad made it to 71. In all our sadness, God has shown Himself faithful. We will bounce back, as hard as it is.

Just one more note about my dad. He was a teacher. He taught high school science and math, college-level science, and he taught my sister and me much about science and about God. He retired from high school teaching in 2009, but he continued to teach college classes a few times a week until December. He loved science (particularly geology), he loved to teach, and he truly cared about his students and seeing them succeed. Last school year, he taught my son 7th grade earth science via the internet. Last September, we began our school year here in the US, and my dad taught my son's 8th grade biology until the second week of December. That's something my son will always remember. I just wish he could have taught the girls. When he passed away, I was overwhelmed by the huge number of comments we got on facebook from former students, both high school and college. He touched so many students' lives, and most of them said he was their favorite teacher, and they shared so many memories. It was my dad who gave me my love for learning and for teaching. What I do in our homeschool has a lot to do with his influence. I'm so proud of who he was, and I'll always value what he taught me, both academically and spiritually.

We will be returning to England in another month, and then maybe I will blog again. Those of you who pray, we'd appreciate prayers for our family. The kids are doing fine. They really miss their grandpa--he was a wonderful grandpa, and they have lots of great memories of him. I think getting back to England--to their normal routine, their church, and their friends--will help.

So, until my next post, this is where we're at. Thank you for reading.

First Grade Reading Log

Here is my youngest daughter's reading log for 1st grade. These are books she read aloud by herself.

1. Floss (Kim Lewis)
2. Daniel's Duck (Clyde Robert Bulla)
3. Katy and the Big Snow (Virginia Lee Burton)
4. Snowshoe Thompson (Nancy Smiler Levinson)
5. Dolphins! (Sharon Bokoske and Margaret Davidson)
6. Corduroy (Don Freeman)
7. The Big Balloon Race (Eleanor Coerr)
8. Frog and Toad Together (Arnold Lobel)
9. Frog and Toad Are Friends (Arnold Lobel)
10. Frog and Toad All Year (Arnold Lobel)
11. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (Virginia Lee Burton)
12. The Little House (Virginia Lee Burton)
13. The Bears on Hemlock Mountain (Alice Dalgliesh)
14. Whales: The Gentle Giants (Joyce Milton)
15. Wagon Wheels (Barbara Brenner)
16. Amelia Bedelia (Peggy Parish)
17. Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express (Eleanor Coerr)
18. The Josefina Story Quilt (Eleanor Coerr)
19. The Story of Ferdinand (Munro Leaf)
20. Christian Liberty Nature Reader: Book One (Kramer, Bass, Wright)
21. The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge (Hildegarde H. Swift)
22. The Mitten (Jan Brett)
23. Bread and Jam for Frances (Russell Hoban)

Summer Reading
24. Rapunzel (Ian Beck)
25. Horse Pie (Dick King-Smith)
26. Rumplestiltskin (Vera Southgate)
27. Mr. Monkey and the Fairy Tea Party (Linda Chapman)
28. The Most Wonderful Thing in the World (Vivian French)
29. The Frog Prince (Susanna Davidson)